B.A.T. Out of Hell

The devils are lurking and the gremlins are smirking
In the printmaking workshop tonight
There’s a cut in my paper and a tear in the blanket
Think the pressure might be over-tight
My ink is looking spare,
Is that another hair?
Still searching for the backing sheets
I’m down on my tarlatan, running outta rags
Oh, I swear I’m like a hot plate, turned up to eleven
Starting to overheat
 
Goin’ crazy tryin’a make a print where every little thing
Is pure and good and right
But before I edition, need a lot more precision,
The right amount of dark and light
But I’m filling with doubt, registration is out,
The image could be better drawn,
So I gotta keep proofing, gotta get it together
If I’m counting the flaws
I’ve barely just begun
 
Like a B.A.T. out of hell
Every print I’ve been pulling is wrong
I’m making micro-adjustments but whatever I’m doing is
Wrong, wrong, wrong
Like a B.A.T. out of hell
Every print I’ve been pulling is wrong
When the blanket’s down
And the wheel’s gone round
And I’m holding my last proof
Then like a sinner before the gates of heaven
I’ll be ripping up this one too
 
I’m gonna hit the presses like a battering ram
I’m determined, gonna get it right
Trying every plate in every orientation
And bumping up the opaque white
But nothing here to show, still no good to go
And every proof has bitten the dust
And nothing’s printing up and nothing’s lining up
And nothing’s looking worth the fuss
 
I’ve added in a little smidge of ultramarine,
Tried a little cobalt too.
But I’d rather be damned, you know I’m gonna be damned
If I’m adding in the Prussian blue
Well, I’d rather be damned, you know I’m gonna be damned,
If I’m adding in the Prussian blue
Well, I’d rather be damned, you know I’m gonna be damned,
Rather be damned, you know I’m gonna be damned,
Rather be damned, you know I’m gonna be damned,
If I’m adding in the Prussian,
Adding in the Prussian,
Adding in the Prussian blue
 
Goin’ crazy tryin’a make a print where every little thing
Is pure and good and right
But before I edition, need a lot more precision
The right amount of dark and light
Still having my doubts, registration is out,
My image looking pretty forlorn,
So I gotta keep proofing till I get it together
Gotta sort out the flaws
Before I see the sun
 
Like a B.A.T. out of hell
Every print I’ve been pulling is wrong
I’m making micro-adjustments but whatever I’m doing is
Wrong, wrong, wrong
Like a B.A.T. out of hell
Every print I’ve been pulling is wrong
When the blanket’s down
And the wheel’s gone round
And I’m holding my last proof
Then like a sinner before the gates of heaven
I’ll be ripping up this one too

Then like a sinner before the gates of heaven
I’ll be ripping up this one too
 
Well, I can see myself, tearing out my hair
After
Peeling back to find another dud
And I’ve under-etched and I’ve over-wiped
And invented fifty-seven ways to make another mistake
But I still can't pull a good proof
And I keep on messing up the order that I print my plates
 
And I keep on messing up the order that I print my plates
 
And I’m down to the bottom of my 55981
Torn my paper, every single last sheet is gone
But I think somebody somewhere must have cast a spell
Cause the last proof I pull is a thing
Of beauty
It’s a print of perfection, in every way
It’s a hellava B.A.T.
 
And I’m scraping the bottom of my 55981
Torn my paper, every single last sheet is gone
But I think somebody somewhere must have cast a spell
Cause the last proof I pull is a thing
Of beauty, of beauty
It’s a print of perfection, in every way
It’s a hellava B.A.T.
Oh, it’s a hellava B.A.T.
Oh, it’s a hellava B.A.T.
Oh, like a B.A.T. out of hell (As I’m watching the morning, watching the morning dawn)
Oh, like a B.A.T. out of hell (As I’m watching the morning, watching the morning dawn)
Oh, like a B.A.T. out of hell

Meatloaf & Jim Steinman, Bat Out of Hell, 1977